Monday. Snatch complex: high pull, full snatch, snatch balance, ohs (40-65kg). Snatch pull triples (up to 90kg).
Lots of snatch action today at the gym. It took me an hour to go through all the work load. This time I didn't have strict plans on the weights at all. Just went on by feeling. What I had in mind was the complex that was carried out as such.
Complex.
Snatch high pull
Full snatch
Snatch balance
Overhead squat
Bunch of sets @ 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65kg
Lots of fun. I took several sets at each load so there was a good volume of snatches today. These felt very good, and my technique (compared to what it used to be) was somwhat on point. I'm very happy of today's progress!
60kg
Pulls.
Snatch high pulls
Triples @ 68, 70, 70, 80, 80, 80, 90, 90, 90kg
65kg snatch is pretty much the most I've lifted in ages so this was big time success. I jumped to 68kg which turned out to be just a snatch high pull because I didn't drop under the barbell for some unknown reason. Even though 65kg was rather easy, some wall hit me in courage. There's something to be worked on.
65kg
So I changed to snatch high pulls with a bit heavier weights. Focusing on bringing the bar up slowly as I've learned now, then pulling from the hips. Good sesh.
Monday. Snatch 5x3 @ 50kg. Back squat (up to 5x130kg). Metcon, 5rnft of: 14 db snatch (25kg), 20 push-ups.
Got a chance to go to the gym in the evening. I wanna fix my snatch so I'm anticipating more of that work in the future. Today it was technique stuff, and then squats for strength. In the end I broke a good sweat with db snatches and old school push-ups.
Oly.
Snatch 5x3 @ 50kg
At the end of these snatches I was a very happy man. Something happened in my brains and I really feel like these were one of the best snatches I have ever been able to do. The thing was I pulled the bar with patience and was able to bring it up to my hips before popping it up with hip extension and pulling with traps. Felt very good!
Snatch
Strength.
Back squat 3x100, 4x115, 4x130, 4x130, 4x130, 5x130kg
Huh, somehow the barbell felt very heavy on the 130kg sets. Before that it was like air. Usually I climb up with just small jumps so 15kg is pretty big one for me (115kg -> 130kg). I did those 115kg reps tng style but then 130's were singles, rest on top before knocking another rep. Challenging sets mentally but I overcame those. Told myself this is baby weight considering the loads just couple of weeks ago so that gave me mental strength to push on.
Metcon.
5 rounds not for time of:
14 dumbbell snatch, 25kg, alternating
20 push-ups
I was pretty much done after the squats but wanted to get something in my system anyway. I didn't bother about the timer but I looked from the clock on the wall that I did these pretty much emom style. Odd minutes were snatches and even minutes were push-ups. On the last minute I didn't hold on to that pace anymore. Good workout to finish the session!
Tuesday. Snatch emom x 10min: snatch + hang snatch (40kg). Metcon, 10 mu's, then 5rds of: 7 hang power clean (60kg), 30 du's, 12 ghd. Time, 13.34.
I was in no rush at all this Tuesday but on the other hand my posterior chain was a bit cranked up from yesterday's session so this was not the toughest one. Metcon was good, snatches were light.
Snatch.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
1 snatch + 1 hang snatch @ 40kg
There was simply no way of building up to heavier sets. I played around with this weight for some time. Even though I warmed up for quite some time it didn't let me go heavy. I had emom work in my mind anyway, had just thought about putting something between 50 and 60 kilos on the bar.
Metcon. Time, 13.34
10 ring muscle-ups, then 5 rounds of:
7 hang power clean, 60kg
30 double under
12 ghd sit-ups
This was a good metcon. Muscle-ups took an eternity because I took them mostly in singles. First was a double, then maybe another double and the rest were definitely singles. No misses, not even close but somehow the pulling power wasn't explosive so I did only singles.
After 10 reps had been completed, it was time to hit the 5-rounder. Went unbroken each round on every element of the workout. Cleans were obviously the strength-element in this one, double unders the cardio and skills piece, and ghd's were putting core to test. There was distances between the stations so once I got to any of the station, I started working right away.
The walk was the recovery in this one. I'm especially happy about the double unders. I've had some issues on couple of sessions because those haven't been visible that much in my sessions in the past months. Today those felt very good all the way.
This body really feels beaten up. Huh, but I sure love to drive to the gym, do my thing and smile. For the morning session my intentions concerned snatches. Wanted to do them in a similar way as the clean and jerks yesterday. Emom work as singles. Then I went for a short metcon. In the evening we went for a recovery walk in the woods.
Snatch.
Every minute on the minute x 20 minutes
1 snatch
5x45, 5x50, 5x55, 5x57kg
No misses. And these felt surprisingly good. I did some mental prepping for this snatch session. I saw myself lifting perfect reps in my mind, and figured out the bar paths a lot beforehand. Maybe that helped or not, but this one got me a good mood for sure. Focused on pulling slowly from the ground, and bringing the bar as high as possible before extending my hips and dropping under.
First weights were light at 45kg. My plan was to increase the loading every 5 minutes, same as yesterday. I have once lifted 70kg in my life in the snatch so comparing to that, these were something between 70-82% of 1rm. In real life I would probably lift something like 65kg or a little more if I tried the max lift.
Snatches
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
6 chest-to-bar pull-ups
8 overhead squat, 40kg
10 burpee
I couldn't put all in effort on this one as my legs were not feeling super happy. That reflected on the entire body. Went unbroken on each element. I just worked through, and the thing I put my thoughts on was the depth of the ohs. I went clearly below parallel, forced myself to do that. It was easier after the snatches as hips were loose enough at this point.
It was all about snatch work. And finally some light at the end of the tunnel. There was a couple at the gym yesterday and we all did cleans. I noticed already then that these guys are having great technique. Today we got in to talks and it turned out they are weightlifters, and the girl actually had a coach's certificate in weightlifting. I asked for tips on my snatch and it really helped. Appreciate the help I received!
Pulls.
Snatch pulls 5x3 (70, 90, 100, 100, 100kg)
The key to success seemed to be snatch pulls. My biggest problems include quick first pull which makes it difficult to control the barbell and direct it through a perfect bar path. The barbell was so heavy that it was not going to be too fast. Another thing - and probably the biggest problem - is where the bar makes contact with the body.
It tends to touch somewhere around mid-thigh to semihigh-thigh. Never at the hips though. And that's exactly where it should take place. Having a bigger load on the barbell made me have patience with the pull, and thus the bar touched on the hips every single time.
I took the snatches by feeling. Basically the idea was that I wanted to focus on the same bar path as with the snatch pulls. Having patience on the first pull. That was one of the key tips I got today. I really felt I got the contact point much higher today. These are all self evident points but having someone tell it right at your face after your lifts and correcting it right away makes a difference.
All this work resulted in me doing a triple at 60kg which is much better than ever before in my life. Doing them in squat snatches was freaking awesome. Plus, the cherry on the cake was the last rep being the best of them all. Got to work more on this movement now that I got some momentum on =)
Wednesday. Every 45sec: perform 1 squat snatch for 20min. Emom x 10min: 2 c&j (70-82kg). Metcon, 8 rds of: 5 c&j (60kg), 15 ghd's. Time, 12.28. Sled pull, seated.
Had lots of time to be spent at the gym so I took advantage of this rare moment big time. Started off with snatches, working on that technique with emom type training. Then hit it about the same way for clean and jerks. That was awesome too. Metcon consisted of c&j's too which is something I should have there more often. The last part was inspired by last year's Crossfit Games where they had similar strongman type movement, combined with deficit hspu's.
Snatch.
Every 45 seconds: perform 1 squat snatch (40-60kg)
This was a great way to get more reps under my belt on snatches. And the focus was on getting below parallel. I have traditionally been quite hasty on getting the barbell off the ground so I tried to get it slower from the ground. One more thing I was putting effort was not to bounce from the bottom but stay there for a while in the receiving position.
My mobility isn't where I want it to be on the snatch so this is important stuff for me. The jumps on weights were 40-45-50-52-55-57-60kg. It was mostly something like 3 minutes per weight. I thought I was doing work for about 20 minutes but then in the end it was something like 22-23 minutes.
Snatch recap
Clean and jerk.
Every minute on the minute for 10 minutes
2 clean and jerks
1-2min: 70kg
3-4min: 75kg
5-6min: 77kg
7-8min: 80kg
9-10min: 82kg
This was somehow freaking awesome. Clean and jerks have been missing lately. At least that's my first gut feeling. So I did doubles every minute. And these were not just normal clean and jerks. The rule was not to stop at the front rack position. I was supposed to jerk the barbell overhead with one continuous movement. And I got them done as planned. This was great news because I have not done c&j's this way over 70kg. At least not over 75kg, that's guaranteed.
So going all the way to 82 kilos was big news for me. I did the first sets unbroken but then starting at 75kg it was quick singles. There is not a single thing I would look back and thing I would have liked to do any other way. This left me with a smile on my face.
Clean and jerk emom
Metcon. Time, 12.28
8 rounds of:
5 clean and jerk, 60kg
15 ghd sit-ups
I had decided to do c&j's at 60 kilos for a metcon for a couplet but the pair had not been precisely written down. There were couple of options, and ghd's were one of them from the very beginning. So it was 12 min amrap of 5 c&j's and 15 ghd's. At 12 minutes my last set of ghd sit-ups were ongoing so I decided to finish them, and the clock finally stood at 12.28 after performing the 120th ghd. On the video below you'll only see the clean and jerks, sorry for not capturing the ghd's on the clip (plus not editing those parts I wasn't performing on the platform).
Jerks felt good and doing just 5 reps at a time was something I was able to do unbroken each round. Had there been something closer to 10 reps it would have brought issues. Ghd's were unbroken too, and the round times were quite solid, it was about 90 seconds per round. Not big differences between rounds.
Metcon
Ropes.
Sled pull, seated, for 4x20m
At this stage I was pretty much done but after walking around the gym for a while, I saw the rope laying on the floor and it reminded me of one of the coaches talking good things about pulling the sled with a rope, seating on the ground. The load was light this time, I just wanted to get my hands on this thing for the first time. I had 25kg plate for half of the time, and 25+15kg's for the latter part.
Friday. Strength, deadlift 4x8 (max 160kg). Benchmark workout Amanda, 9-7-5 of: mu's and squat snatch (40kg). Time, 11.55.
Friday pulls were ahead of me. No matter that it is May Day, I'll hit the Box anyway. That's my thang =) We slept late, ate a humongous breakfast and headed to the gym. Classic deadlift session was ahead of me. Then a big time workout called Amanda. Once I get that in the books rx'd, I'll party.
Warm-up workout.
Every minute on the minute x 10
Odd min, 15 kettlebell swing, 24kg
Even min, 10 overhead squat, 20kg
I find it a good way top get the entire body ready for what's up next by doing a little workout. Not every time do I have the time and chance to do it but when I have, it's gonna take place. The purpose is to get it light, just to prepare the entire body for the work ahead of me. Kettlebell swings are great
Warm-up
Friday pulls.
Deadlift 4x8 (130, 140, 150, 160kg)
Classic stuff. Pulling iron from the floor is great. Brutal strength. I worked for bigger sets today, 8's for 4 sets. These felt good all the way. My hamstrings and back were strong all the way. Like I've told before, it feels like the most challenging thing is that my fingers hurt like hell when I have a heavy barbell hanging on my hands.
I built up in these sets so that the last set was at 160kg. Could have probably gone heavier but this was a good one definitely. I still remember the day when I took 160kg for one rep max effort at Haaga gym. I had a bunch of good buddies with me and the adrenaline was pumping. End result was this weight up on my waist and I was smiling like a little kid on Christmas Eve. Got to be happy on the journey and gains. Picking up the same load today for 8 reps was no biggie.
Deads
Amanda. Time, 11.55
9-7-5 of:
Ring muscle-ups
Squat snatch, 40kg
I have a dream, and that dream involves me doing Amanda rx'd some beautiful day in the future. Doing 60kg snatches is not a minor thing so combining them with muscle-ups is gonna be awesome. Today I did this one as a scaled version. And I got to admit after looking at my snatches afterwards on video that some of them were power snatches. Especially on the first set of 9 reps where probably all of them were. In the following sets they were better for sure.
Before putting the clock running I took couple of sets of snatches just to make sure how deep is deep enough. There is no mirror at this place and I'm used to secure the depth of my snatches with an eye. This time I tried to get the feel by doing a set and then checking it on video. It got better. Then on the first round of the workout it was way too shallow, no doubt. On the round of 7's and 5's I'm decently happy with them. Not perfect but I'll take it for now.
In general, doing this benchmark was a big milestone to me. No matter it was a light version of it. Combining ring muscle-ups with practically anything is tough for me at the moment so I', happy over any workout with mu's in it. I've done much more metcons with muscle-ups included lately and that is freaking huge thing to me. It proves I have worked on my weaknesses and have gotten better and more all around athlete. And that if something, has been my ultimate goal as a crossfitter.
Saturday. 3-position snatches (max 50kg). Metcon, 30min amrap of: 400m row, 2rds of Cindy. Result, 8rds + 100m row.
Home sweet home. I went back to the old gym because there was a lot of seminars and lectures at the new place so I suppose there's gonna be tons of people and no room for workout. Today's agenda was snatches and then a steal from Pat Sherwood. Long workout as I like to have one on weekends. It was a killer one huh huh.
Snatch.
3-position snatches
High hang
Mid-thigh
Floor
Weights @ 40, 45, 50, 50, 50, 50kg
There was plenty of time today to whatever so I got a chance to do snatch work and then a long workout afterwards. There are many ways to practice snatches. This time it was a 3-position snatch drill. That means 3 snatches without letting go of the barbell between reps. Starting from the pocket, 2nd lift was from mid-thigh and the 3rd one from the floor.
I felt pretty good about these snatches. As you see, there's a lot of technical issues still. And there is probably be those for a long time but the development is what I'm interested in. This movement has gone to a better direction this year. Why is that? Because I've practiced it. Surprise surprise. And mobility seems to get better all the time.
On some of the reps I had issues getting below parallel but mostly that didn't cause any problems. Warm-up was long and thus it enabled better mobility and better movement mechanics. It was very encouraging that the weight itself wasn't heavy. Felt quite comfortable in general today with this movement. Purpose was not to go as heavy as possible.
Snatches
Metcton. Result, 8 rounds + 100m row
30min amrap of:
400m row
2 rounds of Cindy (1 round is 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats)
I saw this at Pat Sherwood's Insta page and first instinct was that this doesn't look that bad. Then after 5 seconds I also realized hey c'mon this is Pat's page. These are never easy. Thinking about it up closely rowing / running makes each workout suck big time. This was actually originally running instead of rowing but there was no possibility for that today. Didn't wanna run on a treadmill.
Cindy is a 20min amrap of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats. Pat has ingeniously added rounds of Cindy on workouts from time to time. There is some twist that those bodyweight reps bring to a workout. The purpose of this workout was not go all out from the very first second. It was gonna be a long one, and a miserable one.
This got ugly at around 10 minutes. Got to say I was in deep waters at this point. Luckily there was one training partner to talk me up. Small words in correct place can have a huge influence. I decided to ignore the voices in my head, close my eyes and keep moving forward. After some time the workout was over. This was mentally challenging wod for sure.
Rowing wasn't even the worst part. My guess was that it's gonna be as miserable as it can get. Somehow it was the bodyweight work between row sets. I suppose running outdoors could have been even nastier. Go figure. It was something between 3-4 minutes per round. Rowing was 1.50+ pretty much all the time. Unbroken on Cindy's. There was a total of 3.300m row, 80 pull-ups, 160 push-ups and 240 squats.
Monday. Snatch by feeling. Ohs by feeling. Metcon, 6rds of: 6 hang power clean (70kg), 9 hspu, 12 high box jumps. Time, 13.00. Skills, handstand
Training day at Liikuntamylly in the morning. This place is divine! I'm on a holiday now so I'm definitely visiting these spectacular places I don't have access on weekdays. There are some restrictions in the evening times for public but during the daytime there's no problem. I worked on my snatch and ohs but the funniest part was absolutely the metcon and handstand.
Barbell.
Squat snatch
Overhead squat
There was no clear plan this time. There would have been but there's too much to work on in my snatch technique. Had it been for example clean, I know there won't be any misses and they are very consistent. I know I can hit high percentages of my max every single day. Snatch is totally different. That indicates snatch is highly technical movement, especially when done as squat snatch.
Got to keep on doing those reps to improve mobility and speed. The outcome will be strength. At least according to Coach Burgener. Mobility is the key, no doubt. On the lighter snatches it felt like a lot of things fell in to place and I was actually very happy on those. After 50kg it got more challenging and my technique collapsed somewhat. And I have no idea what those knees were doing on some of the reps =) After going by feeling in the beginning I took emom workout at 50-55kg snatch singles in the end.
Decided to continue with overhead squats after this. Just took 50, 60, 70, 80, 70kg reps. Basically they were singles, some were done with a pause in the bottom. Wouldn't probably hurt too much to do those pause squats more often. It really feels like mobility improves on every repetition. My armpits easily face down when I'm in the hole instead of facing forward like they should. There are some tightness in my shoulders I guess. When I'm standing, armpits are forward but when I'm down, they tend to switch more downwards.
Barbell work
Metcon. Time, 13.00
6 rounds of:
6 hang power clean, 70kg
9 handstand push-ups
12 high box jumps
This was a great workout! It is a very small thing but it sure feels great to drop the barbell after a tough set of cleans. It mentally feels good you don't have to bring it down nicely. Just drop it and move forward to handstand push-ups. I did everything in this workout unbroken. None of these elements were easy.
Cleans got tough in the middle of the workout but I fought to get them unbroken. I would have done couple of more rounds ub but they would have definitely been challenging. Breathing was heavy throughout the wod which made everything a little worse.
Handstand push-ups were easy in the beginning but got tough about the same time as cleans, at about mid-workout. I went touch'n'go on the first 4 rounds. Last two rounds I had to stop resting my head to the ground after 6-7 reps before finishing the set.
This box height was a compromise but it was actually great! There were these blocks you can pile on top of each others. One was too low so I got two of them which made it a lot higher than regular 61cm box. The height of this one was around my hips. Had to do the jumps in singles, no way I was rebounding back there. Those really got to my legs and breathing. Great workout!
Skills.
Handstand
Handstand walk
I was about to leave the premises but then realized it's ideal for practicing handstand. My shoulders and wrists felt good so I took couple of tries. First, just trying to find a stable freestanding handstand position, and then hs walk afterwards.
It felt like it went pretty well indeed. It's been a while. This is something I don't do that often. If I had training places like this I'd do it 2-3 times a week for sure! Probably spring and summer will make a difference as it's easy to practice being inverted outdoors too.
Tuesday. Snatch (up to 60kg). Emom x 10min: 2 back squat @ 125kg. Metcon, 7min amrap of: 7 db snatch right hand (25kg), 7 db snatch left hand (25kg), 7 burpee. Result, 126 reps (6rds).
Back to snatches. A good number of repetitions for this highly skilled movement, then emom squats with rather heavy weights for me. Third part of the session included a short and intense workout consisting of dumbbell snatches and burpees, what a combo!
Snatch.
Squat snatch
3 x 5 reps @ 40kg
3 x 4 reps @ 45kg
3 x 3 reps @ 50kg
3 x 2 reps @ 55kg
3 x 1 rep @ 60kg
Originally I planned this as emom work for 15 minutes. I had the pleasure of having Toni as my training partner as he was pursuing heavy squats. At times I was spotting him so basically I did each set unbroken and each weight as emom for 3 minutes. That means with a running clock I performed 5 reps @ 40kg for a total of 3 minutes. Then had a pause, then hit another 3min emom at 45kg and so on.
At 40kg and 45kg the bar wasn't perfectly in control. Well, okay, let's be honest, it wasn't at anytime =) I still have a long journey of snatches and oly work to be done. 50kg snatches were the best succeeded lifts after the lighter ones. I was hurrying these reps touch'n'go without stopping between reps. Toni suggested me to slow down and reset at high hang, and that really felt like it made a difference on how my form was able to hold on.
And the snatches were no doubt full snatches, that pleases me tremendously. Not being shallow on depth but hitting it to the bottom means big gains in the long run. The last set of snatches didn't go well. First rep was a miss, the second one was a power snatch, and the last was a miss again. Real shitty, even though the previous 12 sets were manageable.
' Squat.
Every minute on the minute, for 10 minutes
2 back squat @ 125kg
At this point Toni had to leave after his squats were done. The guy was doing it big time and almost hitting PR numbers, good grind. My version of the squats was every minute on the minute stuff. This was the heaviest I've done as emom doubles. And those started to get heavy for sure. Still, there was no doubt I was gonna hit all of them without misses.
Lately I've done more and more squats in emom style and I like it, really good way to keep the motor running during squats. No big waiting between sets. Okay the weights gotta be a bit lighter but these improve the muscle endurance for sure as the recovery gets shorter. Plus, this is a good time saver when in a hurry, and I don't usually have hours to be spent at the gym (even though I'd like to haha). I'm really happy on begin able to complete these lifts at 125kg.
Metcon. Result, 126 reps (6 rounds)
7min amrap of:
7 dumbbell snatch, right hand (25kg)
7 dumbbell snatch, left hand (25kg)
7 burpee
Okay, my lady was about to hit her last 7min amrap of the day so I came up with this idea. I had couple of other 7min amraps in storage but this jumped up: snatches and burpees. Quite a combination to get the heart rate up, and to get a good muscle burn.
I went to select the dumbbell's weight and ended up pulling a 25kg db. That was pretty good actually, these were unbroken each round but they hurt a lot towards the end. Or actually already on the 3rd round it was bad ass stuff. Snatches always make the heart pump lots of blood to the body and heart rate skyrocket just like that. This was no different to normal. I was exhausted after the metcon.
And burpees didn't help at all. Those started to burn my arms too. Not because there were so many burpees (vice versa) but the combo of snatches and burpees had a cost. Those burpees were genius part of this workout. Not too many of them so that I could keep on bouncing back and forth but still they added a bit to this misery. Round times were close to 1:15 for all but the first and last round which were a little less than a minute. In the beginning it was all fresh but that feeling slipped away on the second round. And on the last round I noticed there's only a minute left on the clock so I had to cut the transitions to minimum and just keep on moving. That worked, and the clock had only one second left after 6 rounds.
Main focus today was supposed to be squats. Previous deadlift session still feels in my back so I had to drop them. Dammit. Instead, snatches were a lot of fun, and rowing made my legs burn anyway so no biggie I got what I deserved.
Holy quads, need to squat some more
Snatches.
Every minute on the minute, for a total of 15min
Squat snatch
3min: 5 reps @ 30kg
3min: 4 reps @ 35kg
3min: 3 reps @ 40kg
3min: 2 reps @ 45kg
3min: 1 rep @ 50kg
I needed to get my snatches done. Maybe technique wasn't right there (like it was sometimes hehe…) but it was great to have those squat snatches and this time I was pulling from the ground. Loads were light each time for sure. I just wanted to practice on pulling from the ground with rather lots of amounts of repetitions. My lower back started to remind itself at mid-workout and prevented me to squat after these guys.
Intervals.
10 rounds of:
250m row
60 second rest
It kind of blew my mind when I read an article of Julie Foucher rowing over 1 million kilometers last year. She had huge amount of rowing sessions which was on average about every other day. And as I follow crossfitmayhem - Rich Froning's site - it seems they also have row intervals on a steady basis. Actually this 10 rounder of 250m rowing appears there every now and then.
My times for each interval were as follows:
1st round: 47.5sec
2nd round: 48.7sec
3rd round: 48.5sec
4th round: 48.8sec
5th round: 48.7sec
6th round: 48.9sec
7th round: 49.0sec
8th round: 48.4sec
9th round: 48.6sec
10th round: 47.7sec
The first and last were done with a damper setting of about 9-10, the rest were at 8 which is pretty much what I always use. The "boat" moved a bit faster with a higher setting. It was around 1.34-1.39 all the time. Maybe an occasional 1.32 pull in some set. I basically tried to catch up every round with the previous round's result. It ended up being quite steady pacing all 10 rounds. Good interval training!
Wednesday. Snatch, emom x 8min: 2 hang squat snatch @ 50kg. Snatch grip press 3-3-3 (max 70kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 10 ohs (42.5kg), 10 lateral burpees. Time, 8.12.
Went to work later in the afternoon so I had plenty of time to hit a session in the morning. I stepped at the gym 9.00, and took long warm-up to get ready for this snatch session. I'll continue to focus on snatch to improve on my mobility, and it's paying off. I took some accessory work in the form of snatch press triples. Last element was overhead squat and burpee combo, great one!
Snatch.
Every minute on the minute x 8 min
2 hang squat snatch, 50kg
First I did classic Burgener warm-up stuff with pvc pipe and empty barbell. Then added some light weight on the barbell before starting the actual snatch workout. On these days that I don't have to rush anywhere I definitely take advantage of the time window. I'll prepare my body for 30-60 minutes before hitting it seriously. And I'm sure my body will thank me for that.
First set was on the light side. Second was a disaster with a failed rep on the first rep, and the replacing reps weren't beautiful either. Third set was okay effort and the path was much better than before. Fourth set was the best by far. Both lifts were decent and got to a deeper squat. Next minute effort was pretty much like the the 4th set. Actually the rest of the sets were somewhat similar. There was one shaky lift on the last set but the latter one was a good one. And by good ones I mean good ones for me.
I'm gonna continue to smash snatch in the near future, getting more comfortable in overhead squat position. This is a clean weakness and needs to be corrected.
When I was doing those sets of snatch press it felt all the time like it's well under control. On the video the first set seems a bit wobbly for some reason. The reason why this was part of today's training session was because I want to get stronger on the overhead position with snatch grip. Eventually this will absolutely transfer into snatch with some level.
Snatch presses
Sets were okay, no problems at all in the presses. Three triples with increasing weight, up to 70kg for max set. I did 85kg press last week when I went to max lift on the overhead squat.
Mobility
Metcon. Time, 8.12
5 rounds of:
10 overhead squat, 42.5kg
10 lateral burpee
I reckoned this might be a fun little shoulder pain. And it was. Combination of ohs and burpees made muscles hurt. Again, ohs position is something that needs to be made better. So you'll probably see these in metcons too in the future. Weight was set at the classic 95lbs which converts to 42.5kg. Better do it this way so for example Nancy is similar weight and not a pound more.
This was no surprise that it hurt in my shoulders and legs. Both elements started to get tougher. I had to pace myself steadily because gassing in the beginning is not my thing. So round times were quite stable and that's the reason I was able to keep the man moving. First and last rounds were the fastest, actually the last one was the fastest. It was kinda like the last sprint to the finish line. There's nothing you have to hold back at that point.
Metcon
This was a great training day. My confidence on the snatch scene is getting better. Gotta work on that good base before hitting "heavy" weights. Plus a good old metcon always makes a man happy =)
Wednesday. Hang squat snatch technique. Emom x 8min: 1 hang squat snatch (50kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 500m row, 10 hspu, 20 db snatch (20kg).
Today I went to the gym early in the morning, and then to work until evening. Because there was plenty of quality time at the gym I had planned to do olympic lifts. My current focus is on snatch style working, to get the movement patterns more natural and to acquire better technique. I worked on this skill for at least an hour. Then hit a metcon of rowing, hspu's and db snatch. It took me 2 hours to work through things. Good session.
Snatch.
Burgener warm-up
Hang squat snatch, light weight
Every minute on the minute x 8: one hang squat snatch per min (50kg)
I'm loving it on the new warm-up routines. For some reason I've ignored this for over 2 years even though this stuff is legendary. It just hit me lately. There was a dark era of snatches. I couldn't see the future very bright some time ago. But those Smolov squats improved my hip area mobility (and somehow also shoulder mobility simultaneously) and enabled me to overhead squat like never before. This led to me trying snatch and snatch balance type of elements. And I've seen it very appealing so I'll try to fix some technical issues here and improve mobility further so that I could do deep ohs in a similar way as in squat clean.
I took a few sets between 30-50kg hang squat snatches, aiming to hit it rock bottom on the squat. That's not easy and I definitely didn't find it just like that. I know there's a possibility of getting there but somehow I break it on the way down. That's probably a mobility issue so I unconsciously push against gravity. On the other hand I know I can get there. Sometimes the bar goes too much forward and then it's difficult to go deep.
After working a lot with lighter weights I put the timer on and completed an 8min emom of hang squat snatches, 1 rep at a time with 50kg. I want to and need to get natural with this movement. Building up the base.
Metcon.
4 rounds of:
500m row
10 handstand push-up
20 dumbbell snatch, 20kg
At some point during those snatches I realized I have zero pain in my right wrist. It's been bothering for I don't know, maybe a month? First I couldn't do pretty much anything with it but then little by little it's gotten better and better. This was my time to shine on the handstand push-ups! No pain at all, this was huge!
Rowing for half a kilometer, then 10 hspu's. First I thought this would be a good couplet but those dumbbells caught my attention and one had to be picked up, 20 reps, dividing it equally to both hands. On the first round I went alternating, then the remaining rounds were 5-5-5-5, changing hand after each 5 reps.
Recap
Pace on the rower was sub 1.50. On the first round it was close to 1.45 but then on the latter rounds at about 1.49-1.50. Hspu's went unbroken every round. And I'm telling you, they were light! Those felt like I could continue forever =) I'm sure a new record of unbroken reps would have been in the books had I tried it. Well, now it's just talk but the point is those felt awesome. Very happy on being able to do them.
This was one of those days when nothing seems to go my way. Shortly put, squats felt heavy, snatches felt a little off and Fran took all my energy and I simply sucked at it. Yesterday was rest day so I had a bit higher hopes for making success today but that wasn't the case. After sinking in this misery for a moment I drove home and thought about things. After all, I'm very happy on the level of fitness I've been able to create in the past 2 years. Can't let a shitty training day ruin that fact.
Barbell.
Back squat, 3x90, 105, 120, 2x135, 5x130kg
Squat snatch, 3x30, 40, 45kg
To be honest I was looking to hit 5x5 at 135kg in the end after warming up. Don't know why but my body wasn't warm at any point even though warm-up was more than enough. First set of 135kg was brutally heavy and I only took 2 reps, then racked it as I reckoned it's too much to handle for a 5. Dropped down just 5kg and finished 5 reps. I could have continued with that weight further on but the feeling was weird. I felt weak.
Decided to work on squat snatches for a while. Just light weight, taking one rep at a time, between 30-45kg. My timing on catching the barbell was a little off. I'd like to see me catch the bar on my way down, and then hitting rock bottom squat position just like in squat clean where it feels very natural. There was something I liked in the reps though. I'm gonna make it work in the long run.
Fran. Time, 4.20
21-15-19
Thruster, 42.5kg
Pull-up
I took this on the spur of the moment. This lady is one I'll try to avoid =) It makes my lungs burn so much afterwards it makes me sick already on the thought. Now after having done this about 7 hours ago, I'm still coughing and sneezing constantly and it feels like I'm gonna get sick. I ain't but that's always the feeling after Fran. It really tests the entire system in my body.
This time I probably started off too hastily. I should have kept a longer pause after thrusters. The wall hit me way too early. Last times I remember going unbroken on thrusters every round and then cutting it maybe in 2 sets on the round of 15's and something similar in the last round. Going too fast in the beginning brought a stop that was difficult to overcome. Gotta have better tactic on benchmarks. Thrusters must be unbroken because you lose too much time in picking up the barbell. Preferably pull-ups also ub if possible. If you gotta break something up, it had better be pull-ups. It's faster to get back on the pull-up bar.
I had to break the thrusters up on the round of 15's (9-6 reps). On pull-ups I came down at 15 reps on the first round. Should never happen. That's nothing. On the second round it was even more difficult. I thought about making it 5-5-5 but couldn't nail that. Anyway, it was a battle all the way and I'm happy I got through this one. Next time I'll plan my rest periods better in order to being able to go unbroken on the sets.
Today's star moment was written in my calendar as being benchmark workout Nancy, rowing version of it. Before hitting the actual metcon I had planned to do either clean and jerks or snatches. I felt a little beaten up, especially in my lower body already in the warm-up section. Legs got tired pretty soon so the barbell play time was kind of short and light weight, concentrating in technique and form rather than big loads.
Barbell.
Squat snatch technique at 30-40kg
This is something I've got more and more enthusiastic over lately. I wanna get the bar path nice before trying to force heavier loads. I have readjusted the grip width recently to match better to my body and it has helped me in the "first pull". I can make the contact with bar and body in correct height on the hips. That is great news. The bar tends to still go a little too much forward instead of traveling straight up vertically.
This snatch session included power snatches from ground and from hang position plus squat snatches from both ground and hang. Finally I took some snatch balance work. That seems to be the most natural part of this movement. And what is extremely positive thing is that my mobility is on a level that I don't have to use that as an excuse for not working on this movement. The weights were not playing big role this time, just playing with the bar and getting familiar with the movement.
Nice, Nancy is always a great workout. I've hit this one twice before as described. This ought to be a running workout spiced with overhead squats. Run one lap on a track for 400m, then complete 15 ohs at 42.5kg. Well okay, no need to use a track, distance is the defining factor. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds and you're done. I've done this once together with Toni in Liikuntamylly and then once on my own in the same place. That is one of those rare venues where I can hit this one and it's been an eternity since I've had the chance to train there. Need to have a holiday or a day off to get there. Magnificent place by the way.
I was bitching a bit to Pauliina about having some pain in my right wrist. Probably nothing big but it's feeling very tight without any reason. Haven't injured it anywhere, just realized it maybe yesterday that it's super tight. So I was thinking about just rowing easy and doing some ohs but Pauliina put me back in my place and made me work hard for this benchmark wod. Thanks for that!
Rowing pace was somewhere around 1:45 for the first round, then 1:50 and at some rounds closer to 1:55, there were pace per 500m, that's what the digits show on the Concept2. I knew the difference would be made on the squats rather than rower. I could win just seconds by rowing harder so the bar movement would make a bigger influence on the final time.
Previous time I managed to get all rounds unbroken on the ohs. Today my legs were jello after first round. That was kind of awkward, couldn't figure out why but that made me drop the bar on the second round after 10 reps. On the rounds of 2-4 I did the sets in 2 attempts, either 10-5 or 11-4. On the last round I grit my teeth and pushed it unbroken again. I'd thought my shoulders would have bailed on me before legs but it was the other way around. Sick.
The nature of this rowing version was different than when running. Running got my heart beat higher and more miserable on lungs. Rowing got my muscles more fatigued. Different kind of burn on these two. Both rocked and were pure crossfit workouts, hands down! This workout finished one week of some sort of benchmark workouts. On Saturday I repeated that one crossfit.com workout, then one of the Open workouts, Christine, Cindy-ish, Helen and Nancy. Some sort of version of these benchmarks saw the daylight, maybe a little modified for one reason or the other but I can definitely feel these in my body right now. It's been great to hit these classics!
Sunday. Barbell, snatch (max 60kg). Metcon, 12min amrap of: 15 power snatch, 30 du. Result, 278 reps.
My back is sore from Friday's heavy deadlifts. That was a bit of a surprise factor for today's workout. Could I be able to snatch with that muscle pain reminding of itself constantly. The answer is yes. I was able to throw in probably the best squat snatch technique session of my life. Then something close to CF Open workout 11.1, thought I did it but afterwards it looks like it wasn't exactly the same. Anyway, back feels better than before the session =)
Barbell.
Squat snatch
Random reps, more with lighter weights and fewer with heavier
Climbing up to 55kg for squat snatch, finished with 1x60kg power snatch
I really had no big hopes for today's snatches. Just need to get something in my system to remind the body how it's done. Squat snatches were beyond my dreams. Some months ago I wrote I'm not gonna try any squat snatches because my mobility is not at a level that would allow me to go even close to parallel with smooth technique. Got to admit, I wasn't too optimistic of getting better at that element. Being 35 in a week I'm the strongest I've ever been, have the best mobility I've ever had (even though I was a floorball goalie in my previous sports life) and have the best condition I've ever had. Got to be happy for every single day I'm able to train with this intensity.
Thought about doing power snatches just to get them done but then again I tried to do squat snatches and felt better than ever on those. Plus there's one huge thing. I've narrowed my grip on snatches remarkably. I'd say it's almost 10cm from both ends. I used to have my hands in the extreme ends. This is something beyond words. That means to say my shoulder and back mobility have taken next steps. And even though Smoloz squat program wasn't cool at all times, it has made miracles to my lower body mobility. Thanks to that guy!
Today I took random reps at different weights, adding plates after having finished successful reps. It ended to at 55kg for a double. And I can proudly say these were the best squat snatches I've seen myself do on camera. Usually they stay above parallel so they actually aren't squat snatches at all. On 60kg I wasn't able to stabilize the movement and I had to drop the bar. On second attempt the previous failed attempt got under my skin and I didn't have the balls to drop under the bar. Had to retake it as power snatch just to show the barbell who's in charge. Got to work on this squat snatch technique and free the movement on the catch position to create confidence.
Recap
Metcon. Result, 278 reps
12 min amrap of:
15 power snatch, 35kg
30 double unders
Yep, I thought this would be one of the CF Open workouts from past years. I remembered it was something like 15 snatch + 30 du's. The order of them was supposed to be reversed and the time frame was also wrong :) Well done mister… Whatever, it was very good workout! And that's the main point, high intensity. At times it feels like this crossfit thing is tough stuff. Then on the other hand, training sessions like yesterday evening - bench press etc. without intensity - gets me bored. Today's session was the exact opposite. And I was pumped about it!!! This is what I need to get in my system. I enjoy every workout, intensity is what I live for.
I get so much more out of a workout if breathing gets heavy and you can test the limits of your body. Sometimes body is feeling tired and that's only natural but the main thing is I do this because I love working out. I've been doing sports my entire life and I don't recall a time I would not have liked to do sports. Floorball took my time for about the last 10 years and now it's time to do crossfit, looks like it's here to stay. I wanna be in shape and in good health for the rest of my life.
Back to the workout. This is metabolic condition workout for sure. Snathes were light, just 35kg on the bar. And du's gets heartbeat sky rocketing always. The combination of these movements is toughest on shoulders. I remember we did this same wod just a while ago with Toni as a partner workout. That time I was able to do all rounds unbroken because there was one athlete working at a time. One round at a time. The recovery while Toni was doing his part was enough to allow me to go full throttle at all times.
Today I got first round unbroken on the snatches, then the remaining rounds were 9-6 all the way. Double unders brought no issues and I completed them without pauses or misses. Hook grip is a must in a high-rep snatch workout like this. Awesome metcon!
Decided to hit it hard today. If you don't know what to do and want to have a workout which makes you see god in the middle of the workout, choose a Crossfit Open workout. They all have that trait in common. They make you dig in the pain cave, deep. But once you've finished it, the feeling is great! You achieved something beyond words. Today was that day again. Prior to completing CF Open 12.3 I took some snatches.
Snatch.
Snatch balance technique
Squat snatch 5x30, 40kg
Power snatch (touch'n'go) 5x50, 50, 52.5, 55kg
It was cool to get some snatches in my system. I took some squat snatches to begin with. I wasn't the most confident with them because it's been a while since last time. But the movement itself is awesome and probably the most technical movement there is. Especially when you go from ground to squat snatch below parallel. I've taken a record lift at 67.5kg squat snatch. Today I wasn't close to that number.
I took couple of reps squat snatch @ 50kg but they stayed above parallel and I couldn't find a natural path all the way down so I decided not to force it. Instead, I worked on power snatches and they felt goooood! Couple of sets, all 5's. And the point was exactly to go touch'n'go style, without resetting grip on the ground. The last set was demanding but I got it as planned and left the lifting platform as a winner.
Okay, my upper body felt a little tired after those snatches. I took couple of push presses and push jerks with 52.5kg bar and those felt heavy. I was a little worried how this workout would turn out =) Especially as I recalled this being heavy as shit. CF Open workouts are always tough, Dave Castro makes sure that is universal feeling among crossfitters.
Okay, back to the workout. Box jumps unbroken. I think I've found a good and efficient way to perform box jumps. This spring I've done hundreds / thousands of them so I guess my technique has developed. And I can push my self through them, no matter the number of reps. That's something I'm pretty proud of.
Milko is a bit quicker going under the bar than me...
On those shoulder-to-overheads I basically went on with push jerks. For 2 rounds I did them unbroken. From then on I took them in 2 sets each round. Maybe once or twice as 6+6, then 7+5 to the end. And I got 7 reps on the 8th round as time hit 18min. This was a different strategy compared to last time where I completed every round of S2O's unbroken. However, it took me more time to recover before and after the jerks.
Now I was able to move much sooner to toes-to-bar. This resulted in a better end result than last time. I was a bit surprised to performing better. I thought that cutting the barbell work would cause harm but then again, I tried to move faster with shorter transitions. And I believe that was exactly what happened.
This workout is always a great test of fitness and today it sucked all my energy. Had to walk the fatigue away for some time before jumping on the rower to flush my body and put the fluids moving. I rowed for 1 kilometer with easy pace, just to recover. Great session!!!
I'd like to see Dan Bailey hit the podium with Froning and Spealler. That would be quite a combo, humble guys with super work ethic. There are such tough guys in the pool anyway that it's gonna be a sick competition, I love it! You've got Ben Smith, Jason Khalipa, Josh Bridges, Scott Panchik and the "black horse" Matthew Fraser just to mention few. Or is Matt a black horse or just a freaking monster, I don't know but his work capacity is tremendous.
Anyone of these guys could take the Games home but it seems like the champ himself doesn't have any weaknesses and that's really the key to success in crossfit. We have similar rivalry going on at the females' side so stay tuned for the Games!!!
Holiday! Beautiful weather, I get to sleep more than normally, take some nap, do multiple workouts a day and plan our trip to California which takes place in May with Pauliina. Pretty awesome if you ask me! I went to Liikuntamylly for snatch and overhead squat purposes in the morning. Happened to nail a new PR in ohs. Then I took on Nancy, a great benchmark workout with running and ohs as a couplet. In the afternoon I went to pick up Pauliina from work which turned out to be a good chance to get in another training session.
Summer is coming!
Strength.
Snatch 5-5-5 (40, 50, 55kg)
Overhead squats (50, 60, 65, 70, 75, PR 80kg)
Liikuntamylly and Eltsu are the two places where I usually go when I have the possibility. These places are made for olympic lifting. I tend to go heavy on these occasions because of the possibility to drop the bar. It's okay to look for PR's at such venues. I believe I have never gone over 60kg in ohs at my "home gym".
70kg
Didn't take any skills practice prior to strength, jumped right on to snatches. Took good mobility session before I touched the bar though. Then some classic warm-up rituals with a barbell plus snatch balance drills. My intention was to do all squat snatches but I found it a little too difficult today, especially on the 55kg snatches I couldn't find the path down properly. That's why they were power snatches instead. Because I wasn't able to find the correct path all the way down, I stayed at 55kg and didn't go heavier on this one.
80kg
Changed some plates and started doing overhead squats. Didn't have any plan, it's been too long since I've done ohs. So I just played with it for a while, added weight on the bar and took more reps. My wrists are a little sensitive for high-rep overhead squats. It's pretty much the only movement where I get some wrist pain if I hold the bar for a long time. At 60kg this came in to play and the weight itself didn't feel that heavy so I started to take doubles and singles from then on.
My previous 1 rep max was 75kg, which we had taken together with Toni the last time we were here together. It was a little shaky at the time when I held the bar overhead. Today it felt much smoother and steady all the way down and up. We took a shot at 80kg with Toni but I remember it was a desperate seek for both of us. It was wobbling back and forth when I had the bar overhead and there was no chance in trying to lower by butt to the ground. This time the press behind the neck was stronger and I got a solid balance right away. There was nothing more to be done but complete the rep.
Recap of strength
One thing that bugs me is that there's a slight doubt in my mind of the squats's depth being shallow. I'll take this for now but this is something to consider in overhead squats in the future. This movement pattern is not that familiar to me compared to back and front squats. I'm used to squat with mirrors in front of me so it's a bit difficult to perceive how deep I'm going without the familiarity of the mirrors (or training partner).
The barbell should be 42.5kg. This place don't have those fractional plates or light weight plates of 1.25kg so I went with 40kg sharp. Not a big difference but still it should have been 2.5kg heavier. On the other hand I ran a little more than 400m. There's a 200m track which I ran twice. I couldn't place the barbell right next to the track so I had to take a side step to my "bar station". On my fourth round one guy was just about to take my barbell 'cause he thought it wasn't in use. That would have been a bummer if I had lost my bar in the middle of a workout =) Luckily I was able to finish this one as planned.
We did Nancy together with Toni in the end of last year, during the winter holidays. Great combination of movements, running and overhead squats, high-rep overhead squats. I remember there was some hassle last time because we only had one barbell but it was a great one anyway. I topped my time with +3min, from 18min to 14.52. Last time it wasn't so precise, today I took it by the second. What I'm most happy about is the round time variation, or actually the absence of them. First round was 2.51, and the last one was 2.58, the rounds in between were 2.53 - 3.01 - 3.06.
I'm very pleased on that one! I was afraid running would get way slower towards the end. I've never been a fast runner and especially in a metcon I feel like I'm wearing down in the run parts. Okay, I was decent runner back in the days considering I was a floorball goalie =) But I wouldn't count that as one of my strengths. The round times hint that the performance was steady all the way.
I got the overhead squats unbroken each round, that's another thing to celebrate. It got tough on the third round but I stuck to the bar and never let go before 15 reps were done. By the way, completing ohs with oly lifting shoes and sneakers are two different things. I'd like to do my squats with oly shoes but naturally it's challenging to run with those flat shoe soles. This workout was awesome and it was pleasing to see the time got better with minutes.
Dip dropsets. Total of 60 reps
In 60sec, amrap weighted dips @ 20kg
60sec rest
In 60sec, amrap weighted dips @ 15kg
60sec rest
In 60sec, amrap weighted dips @ 10kg
60sec rest
In 60sec, amrap weighted dips @ bodyweight
I was open-minded for this second session, and an article came across from "Fit As Fu*k" where Ditte and Sarah were writing about the importance of dips. I realized it's been a while since last time so it seemed to fit in well to this afternoon. This workout was a drop set style, 60 second amrap of dips with dropping weights, one minute break between sets. I liked this much more than traditional style sets of triples or 5's. Managed to nail 15 reps on the first set so I decided to stick to that rep scheme. It got tougher by the round because the rest wasn't enough to get fully recovered.
This is a weakness of mine so I'm happy on the way I was able to perform. Did 15 reps in each set and the feeling was I really had to do work to get them done. Good workout tip by the ladies, appreciate it!
Workout. For quality
5 rounds of:
10 pull-ups
50 double unders
Before the dips I did some pull-ups, strict chest-to-bar versions and couple of belly-to-bar to work on my bar muscle-ups. Also tried to get band-assisted muscle-ups without a swing but that turned out to be too difficult as I've used to do bar mu's with a good kip. This training session was easy in nature, goal was to get body moving, definitely not 100% effort, just get the blood flowing, work on some skills and weaknesses. It was also great to see Joni go after hero workout Small. If you still remember that one: 3 rounds of 1.000m rowing, 50 burpees, 50 box, and 800m running. I did it about a week ago because he talked me into it, now it was his time to suffer =) Good job Joni!
